Tips to Make Better Images : The Roll Film Exercise

I was recently a guest with friends on their weekly webcast called Daytripper Webtalk.

The primary subject was the value of structured photographic exercises.  We all tried the 10 x10, basically 20 images within the same 10 foot square space, although I messed up thinking it was a 10 inch square space.  Simple gear, no post processing.  Darren and Bryan really focused on seeing everyday things differently, Gabriel took a childs eye view and I tried for a theme of like pairs.

In my case I limited myself to the camera, 100mm lens, on camera flash and a plain black background.  As part of my constructed theme my right hand or portion thereof had to be in each frame.  I tried to find like pairs of things to put in the sequence such as pencil and pen, memory card and film box and fork and spoon.  Coming up with ten pair of like items, shooting them and pushing them out as JPEGs in the span of an hour was a bit challenging.  I found the images I created to be contrived and there was really nothing there I will keep or print, although I did get some ideas for things to do as individual stills.  The real issue I have is that a photograph should set the stage for the viewer to create a story around it, and the slideshow motif really took away from that although a couple of the individual images could be a starting point for more serious work.

The primary outcome of the assignment was to determine if fixed exercises can be beneficial.  We all concluded that they do, if they help you get your head outside of the box.  Each host plus me as guest offered up suggested exercises.  Mine is as follows;

Pick a location and a time.  Limit yourself to a timeslot to capture images.  Now you go to the location and may click the shutter twelve times for twelve images.  No more no less.  Get it right in the camera, because while you will have post processing available, the goal is not to do exposure, white balance, or serious cropping in post.  When I was starting out and shooting roll film this was a very popular exercise to force the photographer to look for and see the images because we could only get 12 shots on a roll of 120 film, although those shooting 645 could get fifteen.  Working with a twin lens reflex at the time, the square format was also a different way of composing that I really enjoyed.

The roll film exercise is a good one.  It creates constraints in multiple vectors and really does help you see

Model Releases, Copyright and Where to Learn More

Last week, the Canadian government changed the Copyright Act to ensure that the copyright to work produced by a photographer is the same as for any other artist.  Simply, you retain your copyright whether you do the work for yourself or are commissioned to do so.  In the past, being prior to November 7, 2012, commissioned work became the property of the commissioning agency unless specifically excluded by contract.  Well done Canada! I regularly listen to Frederick van Johnson who hosts the This Week in Photo podcast.  Like any podcast, some episodes are more interesting than others depending upon what you are looking for.  A recent episode featured Mr. Jack Reznicki and Mr. Ed Greenberg of TheCopyrightZone.com and their critical book, The Photographer's Survival Manual.  (Link to purchase this book at the bottom of the post)

Even though I own the book and recommend it to students, repetition is the mother of skill and so I learn something whenever I listen to these gentlemen.  What was my learning this time?

Electronic model releases may not stand up in court because electronic documents can be edited.

I have looked at, and purchased, electronic model release systems for the iPad, and liked the one from the American Society of Media Photographers very much.  (Others left me underwhelmed).  Until Mr. Reznicki and Mr. Greenberg did their little role play, I missed completely how an electronic release could be challenged in court.  Paper is the way to go.  Listen to the episode of TWIP here.

Support The Photo Video Guy by purchasing the book from Amazon through this link.

[iframe][/iframe]

VIDEO : Introducing Canon's Radio Remote Flash System

I've just made available this new video that introduces Canon's 600 EX-RT flash and ST-E3-RT flash controller. The new radio system is a significant departure so I explain the infrared history of Canon remote flash, where the new system is compatible and where it is not, and offer a comparison to the well known Pocket Wizard radio controllers for eTTL flash. [iframe][/iframe]

VIDEO : Digital Watermarking for your Photos

I'm happy to advise that my video on Digital Watermarking is now available to watch here.  

[iframe][/iframe]

VIDEO : Introduction to Macro Photography

In this video, I introduce viewers to macro photography, discussing concepts, equipment, lighting, exposure techniques and supplemental tips.  I close with some ideas to encourage viewers to make macro photographs quickly and with plenty of learning opportunities. [iframe]<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2fyHsoHbHlA?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>[/iframe]

VIDEO : Introduction to Night Photography

I recently prepared a class to help people get started on Night Photography.  Response was very positive so I am including it here for anyone to watch.  

I would also like to recommend Lance Keimig's book as a terrific resource for Night Photographers.  You can support the site by buying it through the Amazon link here.

VIDEO : Getting Exposure Right in the Camera

This is a video of a presentation and demonstration I built to deliver at a meeting of the Newmarket Camera Club.

Light It Magazine Issues 2 and 3 now available

Great news!  There are now more issues of the awesome Light It magazine for the iPad now available with Issue 4 to follow by year end.  For those who got excited by the superb first issue and then wondered what happened, there was a delay in getting the app approved by Apple, but that's all done now and the issues are available.  At $2.99 an issue, I'm not sure there is a better and more beautifully constructed way to learn about lighting.

If you don't have the app, go get it.  If you don't have an iPad, now you have a great reason to get one and to call it "education expense".

Day in Review : Photoshop Power User's Tour Toronto with Dave Cross

Yesterday was my first visit to one of the KelbyLive seminars and with a single exception it was superb.  I credit the Kelby team for keeping to the timeline, staying on track and delivering exactly what they committed to deliver.  Some felt that they did not get what they expected, however, rereading the ad after the fact, Mr. Cross in fact delivered the goods. He was interesting, his topics useful and he kept the day upbeat.  He took time to credit Adobe for great things and to knife them frequently for awkwardly named items and buttons and regularly chastised them for their intent to make features "discoverable".   I am no Photoshop expert, but I would not use the adjective "discoverable" either, finding "obtuse" and "concealed" far more accurate.  Those bits aside, it was reinforced that the product I have been a licensee of for years has much more depth than I have ever encountered.  As Mr. Cross pointed out, if one is self-taught on something new, one has an idiot for a teacher.  The number of topics covered was rich without being numbing and they weren't dumbed down to stuff quantity over quality.

Mr. Cross is both a consummate teacher and presenter.  The two don't always go together and the combination allows Mr. Cross to bond with his audience quickly.  There was always a lineup to ask questions on the breaks and to his credit, Mr. Cross answered clearly without rambling and was very clear when he did not know something, which to my observation only occurred when questions were raised about topics he forewarned he knew nothing about.

The audience was more heavily populated with design professionals over photographers in my observation.  Since I am a photographer with an acknowledged lack of design training, this concerned me at first but every topic was consumable by me, and only one, that of "Type" was not completely new.  I suspect that this was not consistent for all attendees, but feedback on the escalators heading out was unanimously positive.

The venue was a large room, but was still oversubscribed, with good temps, lighting and audio.  One guest complained to me that she could not hear Mr. Cross, but that was due to a severe case of "repeat what Dave said" or yell "yes" Turrets syndrome infecting the person sitting beside her.  Duct tape should be available to silence those who cannot shut up.

My only complaint is around the venue.  Kelby could have let everyone know which building of the Convention Centre the session was being held in.  This would have simplified entry and egress for those attendees who could not take public transit to attend.  In fact, as much as I enjoyed the session, I'm not sure I would attend another one if held at the Toronto Convention Centre.  Toronto roads are consistently plugged solid with traffic, road repair, illegal parking, horrible drivers, delivery trucks and the like.  My drive to the centre is 45 kilometres one way but it took 2 hours to get there in the morning and over 2.5 hours to get home at night.  I would also recommend starting at 0930 instead of 1000 and ending at 1630 instead of 1700 to ease some of the traffic pain.

Should you have opportunity to attend a KelbyLive session, I would heartily recommend it even given my limited sample.  Do be aware of any challenges to get to the venue and be very planful in that regard.  I suspect that they choose venues close to public transit but for out of towners, driving into a city core can be a major dampener on the day.

New iPad app from Kelby Training - Light It

I really get a lot out of my membership in the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP).  Today I received a release advising of a new iPad magazine and delivery application called Light It.  It is produced by Kelby Media Group, who are well respected for the quality of their materials and sessions.  The magazine focuses on, unsurprisingly, studio lighting and off camera flash.  Since we all hate red-eye and that horrible deer in xenon lights look that comes from on camera or in camera flash, this magazine looks like it will be really useful.

The first issue is free, and Mr. Kelby's dark sense of humour might appreciate that it's a bit like a heroin dealer, the first taste is free.  Kelby Media Group produces excellent content that is not only informative but visually rich and the first issue of Light It delivers on the promise.

Yes you do need an iPad to use the magazine but if you are a photographer and don't yet have an iPad, here's another substantive reason to get one.  I use mine for a multitude of purposes including backup of my memory cards in the field during a shoot, so there's another justification.

The layout of the magazine is clean and elegant, the content is rich and instantly usable and I'm very excited to find this resource.  I've focused on the articles and have not yet determined how future issues will be delivered or what the cost will be, but given my positive experiences with NAPP and Kelby Training, I'm pretty confident it will be a great value.  Perhaps they will use the Newstand functionality that is coming in IOS5.

Take a look, I think you'll be impressed.

Peace.

Ross